Hoping For a Better Future: Book One
by bakaprincess85
Summary: One day after the end of Harry's third year, he wanders the castle when suddenly a whole package of books falls on his head. Read my version of Reading the Harry Potter Books! D
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Everything belongs to JK Rowling I own nothing.

**Author's Note:** This story has been deleted from this site at least two times and this time,  
I'm just posting it without any book excerpts - I hope you'll be able to keep track of why the  
characters react the way they do with where in the book they stop to comment. Good luck!

**Hoping For A Better Future**

**BOOK ONE**

_Prologue - The Letter_

It was nearing midnight and Harry Potter was still awake. No matter how much he tried to fall asleep, it was impossible, for he had too much on his mind. It was only last week that he had met his godfather Sirius Black for the first time and found out that he hadn't betrayed his parents to Voldemort, but instead it was another friend of his father's by the name of Peter Pettigrew that did. It was only last week that his favourite teacher in the whole world, Remus Lupin, resigned and left the castle. No matter how much his friends meant to him and how much time he spent with them, he couldn't help but feel lonely. It took all his willpower not to break down crying when the realization that he couldn't go and live with his godfather and instead had to return to his relatives set in. If only he had caught Pettigrew before he ran away, if only Lupin hadn't forgotten his potion (not that he blamed him), if only… if only… if only…

Suddenly it was too much for Harry as he slid down the wall and rested his head on his knees, his robes absorbing the tears that slid through his eyes that he closed. He was unaware of the pain in his nose where his glasses were digging into his flesh, but he did suddenly become aware of the pain in his head as something fell on top of it.

"OW!" he yelped as he looked on the floor next to him where a package was laying innocently. He picked it up with one hand while massaging his head with the other. It was an innocent looking package and Harry opened it (he was curious as to how a package of books fell on his head out of nowhere after all). Inside the package, there were seven books. After reading the title of the first book he almost dropped the whole package on his toes. Its title was **Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone**. But it was impossible – for as far as he knew, the only books that he was mentioned in where **Modern Magical History**, **The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts** and **Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century**. And even that piece of information came from Hermione Granger, one of his best friends and the smartest witch he knew (even if she was a nag sometimes). He knew that she would have told him if there were other books written about him.

He quickly skimmed over the titles of the other books and they all started with his name. Curious to know more, he went to open the first book and see what was written about him, but the book wouldn't open past the first page and the piece of parchment that was stuck on it. Instead of trying to force the pages of the book to open, he went to read what was written on the parchment.

_Dear Harry,_

_You must be wondering who wrote those books about you and why Hermione didn't know about it._

Harry blinked at the first sentence, for that was indeed what he was wondering about. He thought the sentence over for a few more minutes and then gasped. Could it be that the writer of this letter was from the future? Or even his future self? He knew about time-travelling, because Hermione was in the possession of a time-turner for the past school year and he had even travelled to the past and saved Sirius from the Dementors. With that realization, he quickly turned his attention back to the letter.

_Yep, you guessed correctly. I am your future self – or at least your previous future self if you decide to change the future after you've read this book and the other six that are in the package. Each of the books is a story about one of your years at Hogwarts and they are to be read in this order:_

_- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone  
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets  
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban  
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire  
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix  
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince  
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_

_The first three books have already come to pass and unfortunately the spell I'm using to send these books to the past can only go back thirty years, otherwise who knows where the books would end up (perhaps even in the time of the school founders!)_

If the spell could only send the books back thirty years, then that meant that his future self was forty-three years old. Wow, he was old… Shaking his head to clear it of the unnecessary thoughts, he concentrated on the letter again.

_I know that you probably won't be happy about what I'm about to tell you next, but it really is for the best. I know you don't like people knowing about your life and thoughts, but in these circumstances it can't be avoided. Imagine if by reading about you and your thoughts you could save some people that you couldn't otherwise._

Wait! Did that mean that people he knew were dead in the future? Not Ron! Not Hermione! Not Sirius – he only just got to know him! He quickly read ahead.

_Yes, some of the people you know and care about will die in the future. That is why I sent you these books – so that you can prevent their deaths and finish off old Voldyshorts that much quicker and finally live a normal life without being afraid of when he'll return and kill you or your friends._

If he could protect his friends by reading these books, then he would do so without complaint.

_I thought so. Now, I'd like you to gather a group of people and go to the seventh floor. There's a painting of a wizard trying to teach trolls to dance ballet. Weird, I know. Then you have to walk past the opposite wall three times and think about a place that you could read the books in and the Room of Requirement – that's the place that will appear after you do what I told you to do – will take care of the rest. Don't worry about missing the end of the year – time will stop in the room and when you exit it will be as if you never went in there. Also, don't worry about the food – the house elves will take care of it._

_Now to that group of people I want you to gather. I know that you don't like some of them, but they are there for a reason and I ask you that you trust that I do have a reason for making you read the books together with them. The people you should gather are: Albus Dumbledore, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Alastor Moody, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and Neville Longbottom._

_That's all I can think of to write at the moment, so I'll stop this letter and hope that there won't be any bloodshed._

_Just kidding._

_Harry James Potter_

When Harry read over the names he grimaced when he read Snape's name, but smiled when he read the names of his godfather and his Defence against the Dark Arts professor. He would see Sirius and professor Lupin again! He recognized all but two of the names on the list. He wondered who Nymphadora Tonks and Alastor Moody where, but decided to let that rest for now, for he was on a mission now.

The first person Harry went to find was professor Dumbledore – he would probably know how to contact the two people that Harry didn't know and professor Lupin and Sirius as well!

When he arrived at the gargoyle that was protecting the Headmaster's office, he realized that he didn't know the password. He sighed quietly and was just about to start rattling off as many sweets as he could remember when a sharp voice from behind him startled him.

"What are you doing out of your dormitory at this time of the night, Potter?"

Of course, the person who had to catch him out after curfew had to be Snape. Quickly hiding his scowl, Harry turned around and looked at his professor as calmly as possible.

"I need to speak to the Headmaster about something and it couldn't wait until the morning. Could you please tell me the password to his office, sir?" he asked politely. Snape sneered at him and, not that he expected anything different from his Potions professor, said,

"Do you really think yourself so important that you can speak to the Headmaster whenever you want to, Potter? Ten points from Gryffindor for being out after curfew and if you don't-"

"What seems to be the problem here, gentlemen," an elderly voice interrupted professor Snape's rant. Harry sighed in relief and grinned gratefully at his Headmaster. Professor Dumbledore's eyes twinkled a bit, while Snape looked like he sucked a particularly sour lemon.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir," started Harry, "I just received a package of books from the future."

He ignored Snape's sputter and continued, "They were sent here by my future self, or so the letter says, and he requests that I read it together with you, professor Snape and a few others – although I don't know some of them."

Dumbledore stroked his long beard with his left hand as he looked at Harry. Harry hoped the professor would believe him, unlike professor Snape who was now muttering that he, Harry, should be checked in St Mungo's – though he didn't know what that was.

"Who are you supposed to read the books with?" professor Dumbledore finally asked and Harry almost sighed in relief. Pulling out the letter from his robe pocket he unfolded it and checked the names over again.

"I am supposed to gather you, professor Snape, professor McGonagall, professor Lupin, Sirius Black, Ron, Neville and Hermione, Nymphadora Tonks and Alastor Moody, sir."

Snape's eyebrows rose and so did professor Dumbledore's. Their expressions changed into thoughtful ones. Harry guessed that they finally started to believe him. He unfolded the letter again and said,

"You can read the letter if you don't believe me, professor."

"No, no, Harry," said professor Dumbledore. "I believe you. Do you want me to contact the others?"

Harry looked up to Dumbledore with a hopeful expression.

"Would you, sir? I don't know how to contact them and I don't even know who two of them are. I'll tell Ron, Neville and Hermione."

Professor Dumbledore smiled at him and nodded – so Harry took that Dumbledore agreed to his wish.

"Oh yeah," Harry remembered, "the letter says to meet on the seventh floor where a painting with a wizard trying to teach trolls how to dance ballet. There is supposed to be a room that will be big enough for us to read in and the letter also mentioned that time will stand still in the room so that we don't have to worry about the outside world while we read the books."

"All right, Harry – I'll contact the others. And you should go to bed – it won't do to be half asleep when we start reading."

"Yes, sir," grinned Harry and ran off to the Gryffindor common room.


	2. I - The Boy Who Lived

**Author's Note:** As you probably noticed, I just insterted the horizontal line where the book lines have been. I hope you can guess the correct book lines! Good luck!

**Hoping For A Better Future**

**BOOK ONE**

_I – The Boy Who Lived_

The next morning Harry woke up early, quite eager to read the books about his future. Last night when he returned to the Gryffindor common room, he found Ron and Hermione waiting for him. Ron was already half-asleep over a Quidditch book, while Hermione was earnestly reading her copy of _Hogwarts, a History_ again. He felt touched that they waited up for him and told them about the letter from his future-self. Both of them were quite eager to start reading the books themselves.

For a change, Harry didn't have to wait long for Ron to wake up and after rousing Neville as well and telling him about the books, they went down to the common room, where Hermione was already waiting for them to go the seventh floor together. When they arrived, a number of people were already waiting for them.

"Professor Lupin," Harry exclaimed happily as he saw his favourite teacher standing next to professor Dumbledore, a black dog sitting at his heals. He quickened his steps and grinned up at his professor.

"Hello, Harry," Lupin replied with a small smile on his lips. "I didn't think we'd see each other quite that soon," he said. Harry grinned again and went to say hello to his godfather, who was still in his animagus form. In reply, he got slobbered all over as Sirius decided to lick his face.

"Eww, Padfoot, you're being gross!" Harry exclaimed while trying to get the dog to desist in trying to get him as slobbery as possible.

Finally, the last person arrived. It was professor Snape and he was scowling (nothing new there). "Well, what are you waiting for? I am a busy man, you know," said professor sneered when he came to a stop.

"Oh, be quiet, Snape," replied a man with an electric blue eye. That must have been Alastor Moody.

"Wotcher, professor!" said a grinning girl with short and spiky bubble-gum pink hair. And that had to be Nymphadora Tonks.

After Snape was done glaring at the two, Harry went to pace three times in front of an empty wall while thinking on what his future-self told him to. After his third pacing, a door appeared in the middle of the wall and when he opened it, there was a small common room with beige walls and chocolate brown sofas and armchairs for them to sit on. There were six doors around the circular room, which Harry knew were two dormitories for them to sleep in, two bathrooms, a dining room and a room with several destroyable things for people that needed to vent. Harry thought that was a brilliant idea on his part, for he knew that Sirius and/or professor Lupin would need it once they heard about Harry's life at the Dursleys. He could only hope that the writer of the book wouldn't go into details about it.

Everyone trickled into the room and sat down with approving noises. Sirius changed back into his human form to the shock of everyone and it took another fifteen minutes to explain to everyone not already knowing about his innocence. Then Sirius and Lupin sat down on one of the sofas with Harry in the middle. Ron, Hermione, Neville and Tonks (as she glared at anyone who called her by her first name) sat down on another while the others sat down on the armchairs.

Harry pulled the first book out of its package and said,

"I'll start reading, if everyone's all right with it."

When no rejections came, he opened the book to the first chapter and started reading.

**Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone**

**Chapter One – The Boy Who Lived**

* * *

Harry and Ron caught each other's eyes and turned away from each other to keep themselves from laughing.

* * *

"James wasn't a good-for-nothing," Sirius suddenly shouted with a scowl on his face. "He was an Auror, and a damn good one at that."

"Really?" Harry asked him. He didn't know much about his parents and this was the first time that anyone told him that his father had a job.

"You didn't know?" Sirius asked him, surprised.

"No, all I really know about my dad is that I look like him, but have my mother's eyes. And that he played Quidditch when he was in school," Harry admitted with his head down. He could hear Sirius grind his teeth.

"Don't worry, Bambi, Remus and I will tell you everything you want to know about your mum and dad," Sirius said firmly. Harry raised his head with a funny expression on his face.

"What?" asked Sirius, not comprehending why Harry looked at him like that.

"Bambi?" asked Harry, his lips twitching. Sirius blushed a bit and waved his hand, "It was our nickname for you. I wanted to call you Prongs Jr or Prongslet, but Lily was against it. She said that she didn't want you to grow up just like James. We settled for Bambi. You don't like it?"

"No, no, I like it," said Harry hurriedly, ignoring Hermione's giggling (it seemed that she and Harry were the only ones that knew where the name Bambi came from… no, that was incorrect, Tonks seemed to have a chuckling fit as well). He didn't like the distraught expression on Sirius' face when he thought that Harry didn't like this nickname.

"Could we get back to reading?" ground Snape out. Harry quickly started reading again, not eager to incur his professor's wrath.

* * *

"A child like what?" growled Sirius. Nobody answered him. They still weren't really comfortable in the ex-convict's presence. It would take them a while to relax – they did think that he was a mass-murderer for twelve years after all.

* * *

Harry suddenly felt the need to let out a guffaw. "Little?" he managed to get out when he calmed down a little. "I don't think 'little' is a word I'd use to describe Dudley."

* * *

"Bet that's McGonagall," Sirius said with a mischievous grin that lightened his haunted eyes for a moment.

"Why would you think that it's me, Black?" asked professor McGonagall.

"Well, I don't know," Sirius floundered, "I just have this feeling."

"A galleon it isn't professor McGonagall," Tonks suddenly announced.

Everyone stared at her for a moment and she said, "I like to bet," as an excuse.

"You said your last name is Tonks?" asked Sirius after a moment.

"Yes, what's it to you?"

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Ted Tonks, would you?" asked Sirius.

"He's my dad."

Sirius suddenly let out a bark-like laugh and said,

"I knew I heard your name before. But I couldn't remember where for the life of me. You're Andy's daughter, right? I heard that Andromeda married a Muggle-born called Tonks. I just remembered that they had a daughter."

"How do you know my mother?" asked Tonks suspiciously. Sirius's face fell for a bit, then he cheered back up again.

"She's my favourite cousin, of course. She was the only one of my family that I liked."

"If we could get back to the reading," Snape once again interrupted them.

* * *

"Prepare to lose your galleon," Sirius teased.

"As if," sniffled Tonks in reply.

* * *

"Yes, how dare they," Sirius mocked. Everyone turned to Sirius when he said that.

"What?" he once again asked.

"You talk too much," Tonks decided to help him out.

"Well, I didn't really get a chance to talk in Azkaban, did I?" Sirius replied with a scowl.

No one had an answer to that.

* * *

"One-tracked mind, that one," McGonagall murmured.

"You have no idea," said Harry before he could realize just to whom he was replying and blushed when everyone either sniggered or twinkled or chuckled at him. Well, everyone but Snape and Moody. Snape scowled, and Moody just stayed… moody.

* * *

"This must be November the first," Lupin said sadly. Everyone looked sad at that.

* * *

"YES!" Sirius once again interrupted the reading. Harry felt like he didn't know his godfather at all. And he realized that it was true – after all, he only got to talk to his godfather for a few minutes after everything calmed down. Long enough for Sirius to ask him if he wanted to live with him, and long enough to say goodbye.

"Mr Black," said Hermione, already in her lecturing mode, "That's just a saying. He's not really dead."

"Oh," said a disappointed Sirius.

Then he cheered up again and told Hermione to call him Sirius or Padfoot and Harry was allowed to read again.

* * *

"Coward."

One guess who said that.

* * *

"Nothing new here," Harry murmured.

* * *

"Does he know your name by now?" Hermione asked in an angry voice.

"You know what, Hermione, I don't really know," admitted Harry. And it was true. He couldn't remember his Uncle ever calling him by his name. It was always boy or freak.

* * *

"You do, and she's a pain in the arse," scowled Harry.

"Language, Harry," came a reprimand from Hermione.

"Well, it's true!" pouted Harry.

* * *

"He sounds like Dedalus Diggle," murmured McGonagall.

"He never had much sense," she explained when everyone turned to stare at her.

* * *

"Ha, I told you it was McGonagall!" shouted a grinning Sirius. Tonks scowled at him a bit, but remained quiet. No one could say she was sore loser that way.

* * *

"Definitely McGonagall," Sirius said.

"And if you won't shut up, I'll curse your mouth off," said Tonks in reply.

* * *

"Ha-ha, I didn't expect to read about my dad in this book," said a chuckling Tonks.

"Your dad's a Muggle reporter?" asked Hermione curiously.

"Yep, at least a part-time one," replied Tonks.

* * *

"Her lot?" asked McGonagall angrily.

* * *

"Why that…" Sirius started ranting, but found himself speechless.

"How can you say that Harry's a nasty name, it was the name of your father, you bi-" he suddenly found himself silenced. He glared at Lupin who twirled his wand.

"Language, Sirius," he drawled with his hoarse voice.

"Wow, I've never seen Sirius be silenced like that," Tonks added her two Knuts into the discussion, even though she never met Sirius before. All the while Harry was quiet. He never knew that he got his name from his grandfather. Another thing that his relatives lied to him about, he realized grimly.

* * *

"I thought he didn't approve of imagination," murmured Sirius.

* * *

"That should be my line," mumbled Harry grimly. Snape took a quick glance at the boy. With every paragraph they read, the image he had of a spoiled prince was shattering away. Even before they started reading about Harry living with the Dursleys, when they read about how Mr Dursley acted towards witches and wizards, Snape remembered how his father acted towards him and how Petunia started hating her own sister.

* * *

"Dumbledore!" yelled Sirius.

* * *

"Told you so," grinned Sirius again.

* * *

"Actually, it's called a Deluminator," Dumbledore made his presence known.

* * *

"Ha, pay up!" Sirius laughed, while a grumbling Tonks handed over one of her galleons.

* * *

The room was filled with chuckling.

* * *

Everyone laughed again, remembering McGonagall's previous statement.

* * *

Everyone sobered at that.

* * *

"Too much information," groaned Ron and promptly blushed as everyone turned to look at him.

* * *

Harry read the last paragraph so quietly that the others had to strain their ears to hear him. Sirius bowed his head and pulled a quiet Harry into a one-hand hug. Harry rested his head on Sirius' shoulder and closed his eyes. Lupin looked at the two, but didn't move from his place next to Harry.

* * *

"It's nice to hear that you cared about them so much," Remus said quietly, and Sirius nodded – apparently unable to speak at the moment. McGonagall's eyes shone as she sniffed, and Dumbledore's eyes were missing its usual twinkle.

* * *

Harry remembered the end of his first year and how professor Dumbledore told him he was too young to know and made a thoughtful face. It seemed that professor Dumbledore did know, or at least suspected, how he survived and why Voldemort tried to kill him.

He didn't bring it to his attention though. He'd probably only get told the same thing.

* * *

"He never could keep a secret," Sirius said fondly. "Remember that time we got him drunk, Remus?"

Lupin shot Sirius a look that distinctly said 'shut up now, before it's too late' and Sirius gulped and looked around the room, obviously trying not to meet anyone's eye. Harry snorted, but kept on reading. They would have enough time to talk once the reading was done.

* * *

Harry was surprised to read how much McGonagall protested and could only wish that Dumbledore listened to her.

* * *

This time it was Moody that snorted.

Everyone turned to stare at him in surprise. It was the first time that he made a noise since they arrived. He looked at the book that Harry was reading pointedly and all at once, it clicked.

It was Harry that started laughing first, then Ron and Hermione followed. Soon after, almost everyone was laughing hysterically (probably because of what they just read about James and Lily) – though Snape was looking particularly sour.

"At least they didn't make a Harry Potter Day," Harry snorted.

* * *

"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Sirius firmly. Harry snorted again and when Sirius looked at him curiously, read ahead.

* * *

"And here I thought that you gave up on wanting to be like professor Dumbledore, after that fiasco at Halloween."

Lupin shook his head and said that in a voice that Harry hadn't heard before. It was a mocking voice. He was surprised, because his professor was always very serious – no pun intended – and although he smiled at his students often, his eyes never did. It was the first time for Harry to see a mischievous look in them.

Sirius blushed at the memory, but glared mockingly at Remus.

"I haven't given up yet, Moony – just you watch, I'll learn how to twinkle with my eyes soon enough!"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in response and everyone started laughing again.

* * *

"My motorbike!" exclaimed Sirius.

* * *

"Aww," cooed Tonks with a mischievous look on her face. Harry ignored her, and read on even though everyone could see that he was blushing.

* * *

"Too much information," murmured Sirius as he covered his ears. Everyone rolled their eyes at him and Ron said, with a cheeky voice, "Hey, don't copy me!" This sent everyone into hysterics.

* * *

"Hey, I resent that remark," Sirius cried out with a pout on his face.

* * *

There was silence in the room. You could hear a pin drop. Dumbledore suddenly started to look a little uncomfortable as everyone turned their incredulous eyes on him.

"You left him on a doorstep..." started Sirius slowly.

"In November..." took Lupin over.

"And my dad just said that it would be a wet night," Tonks added her two Knuts in.

"Are you nuts?" yelled Sirius with an angry look on his face.

"First you only write them a letter, telling them that Lily just died and that Petunia had to take care of her wizard son from now on, whether she liked it or not, and then you just leave him on their doorstep like he was yesterday's milk?" shouted Hermione suddenly. She looked a bit shocked at her outburst, especially since she's never shouted at a professor before.

Dumbledore squirmed in his seat a bit. Harry decided that it was time to continue reading and ignoring the looks on his friends' faces, continued to do just that. He did feel a little warm in his heart that so many people took offence over what Dumbledore did, though.

* * *

"That's the end of the chapter," said Harry quietly. It was quiet in the room for a few minutes, then Tonks extended her hand and said,

"I'll read next."

Harry handed her the book, and found himself squeezed to Sirius' side. He was a little surprised at this act of affection, since he wasn't used to being hugged, but let it go and smiled a bit as he rested his head on Sirius's shoulder.


	3. II - The Vanishing Glass

**Hoping For a Better Future**

**BOOK ONE**

_II – The Vanishing Glass_

* * *

"You have such a way with words," Sirius commented sarcastically, while Harry gave a sheepish grin.

* * *

There was another pause in the reading while the people in the room turned their glares on one, at the moment very uncomfortable, Headmaster.

* * *

"Actually, that's a memory," teased Sirius. Harry glared at him mockingly.

"Thank you, Sirius, I had no idea," he replied in kind.

"But it _is_ amazing that you would remember such an early memory," said Hermione quietly. Harry stared at her for a moment, then around the room. Almost everyone looked quite impressed with him. He blushed and ducked his head, making Snape raise his eyebrows. He had expected the boy to become arrogant under such praise, but the boy had – once again – crushed those expectations. The more they read, the more he found himself wondering just who the boy was. Because, obviously he wasn't the carbon copy of his father, like he thought he was. It was quite a bitter potion to swallow, but Snape was good at swallowing bitter potions – literally or not.

* * *

Ron shuddered and both Hermione and Harry couldn't stop the bout of chuckles that attacked them at that performance.

* * *

"Could you read that part again?" Sirius asked slowly. "I think I didn't hear that correctly."

Tonks repeated what she read, without any teasing remarks.

* * *

Harry was staring at his hands which were squeezing his school trousers, red-faced with shame. He never wanted them to find out about his cupboard, but knew that it would come up sometime.

There was a poisonous silence in the room as everyone tried to calm down before they murdered the Headmaster. Dumbledore himself was sitting in his armchair and looked quite gloomy at the book in Tonks' hands. He knew that the boy wasn't happy with his family, but he didn't expect them to treat him quite so bad.

Severus on the other hand was experiencing a paradigm shift. Everything that he thought of the boy – being a spoiled prince, being arrogant like his father – everything slipped away at the sentence that was just read. He did the only thing that he could think of at the moment – he put his elbows on his knees and leaned his head on his palms with a deep sigh. Harry (when did he become Harry and not Potter, anyway?) was more like him than Snape thought possible. While his father did not stick him into a cupboard, he did have to live in a small attic room where it was cold most of the time. He wouldn't be surprised if in the books to come there would be some mention of physical abuse as well.

However, it was the mental abuse that Harry had to suffer from for all these years. It was no wonder he had so little self-preservation and such a big hero complex. And yes, now that he thought about it – the boy never stood up for himself when Draco had a go at him, but he always stood up for his friends. Snape realized that Harry probably never had friends before coming to Hogwarts. It was a bitter realization that Snape's own childhood was better than Harry's in him having a friend, his Lily.

While this monologue was going on in his head, the others were shouting at the Headmaster.

"Could we please continue reading the book?" Harry finally said with a quiet voice – that was heard nonetheless.

"We'll talk about this later, you old fool," Sirius said to the Headmaster before Tonks continued reading.

* * *

"Why would he want a racing bike?" asked Sirius in confusion. Everyone turned to stare at him.

"What?" he asked them when they didn't say anything.

"We just had no idea that you knew what a racing bike is," explained Tonks with a grin.

"I'll have you know I took Muggle Studies when I was in school," replied Sirius indignantly.

* * *

"Sorry, Bambi, that's all your father's genes - he was a scrawny little git when he was eleven too," said Sirius with a small smile on his face. Harry smiled back at him. It was nice to hear more about his father than the fact that he looked just like him.

* * *

"You actually _liked_ your scar?" said Ron in shock. Everyone who knew Harry knew that he hated his scar with a passion.

Harry shrugged, feeling a little uncomfortable with everyone staring at him. Again.

"I didn't know what the scar represented then. I had no reason to hate it."

* * *

"They told you your parents died in a car crash?" asked a dangerously calm Remus. Harry looked a bit weary as he turned his head to look at his favourite professor.

"They didn't want me to know about magic," he explained, hoping to calm the professor down. "And they probably couldn't come up with a better explanation."

"What I don't get is why you're defending them," Sirius ground out with a glare. "They locked you in a boot cupboard and treated you like you were trash."

Harry once again went red with shame and embarrassment and looked down at his fingers.

Sirius immediately looked contrite and pulled Harry into a one-armed hug.

"I'm sorry, Harry," he whispered. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable – but we _will_ talk about it... later."

Sirius' eyes held promise and Harry knew he wasn't going to get out of this one. He nodded, still a bit embarrassed. He did feel quite warm though – no one has ever treated him like this before – it felt nice.

* * *

"Not gonna work," Ron singsonged, trying to lift the mood in the room. Harry and Hermione snorted and the faces of the adults in the room cleared up a bit.

* * *

"Just like your dad," Sirius grinned and tussled Harry's hair.

* * *

"Again, such a way with words," Sirius commented with a roll of his eyes.

* * *

"Do they really get him so much presents for his birthday," asked Hermione, appalled.

Harry nodded quietly, looking at her warily. When Hermione got mad, he was always scared – although it seemed as if Ron thrived on getting her mad. He almost snorted at that thought.

* * *

"Merlin, he can't even count!" exclaimed Tonks. Harry grimaced at her, then blushed when he caught professor Lupin staring at him from the corner of his eye.

"Did he make you write his homework for him?" asked Lupin with a peculiar expression on his face. Harry flushed again and nodded, staring at his trousers again. Then, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere, he quipped, "But I quite liked Maths, so it was no problem."

This time it was Hermione who was looking at him with a peculiar expression.

"Then why didn't you sign up for Arithmancy classes? They're similar to Math," she asked.

Harry shrugged. He wasn't about to tell her what he really thought, after all. They would be angry with him if he did. He was confused by the expression on Snape's face when he turned his black eyes to look at him. It was like he was trying to figure him out. Like he was a Potions experiment. Snape's lips quirked a bit, before his eyes turned away.

Now, that was confusing.

* * *

"No, that just means that he's a spoiled brat," said Sirius into the silent room. Harry rolled his eyes. Sirius seemed to comment on almost everything they read – but Harry wasn't angry with him – it was nice to see Sirius become livelier with every comment he made. His eyes still held the dark shadows that Azkaban left, but his face was becoming more and more animated.

* * *

"Harry, how could you..." Ron mocked and everyone let out a chuckle. Harry rolled his eyes at his best friend and ignored him.

* * *

"I don't think that's gonna work, Bambi," Sirius said with a mocking grin.

"I know that," Harry replied. "I can always hope."

"Yeah, hope is good," replied Sirius.

Harry rolled his eyes again.

* * *

"She always looks like that though," Harry felt the need to explain.

* * *

Sirius got angry at that.

"He's treating you like a dog!" he exclaimed.

"You would know," Remus quipped. Harry snorted into his hand. He had no idea his Defence Against the Dark Arts professor could be so funny.

"Hey!" complained Sirius, but everyone ignored him as Tonks continued to read, not letting him get another complaint in.

* * *

"Dinky Duddydums?" said Ron with a funny expression on his face. "She calls him Dinky Duddydums? She's even worse than mum!"

"Yeah, at least she doesn't call you Won Won," Harry teased back.

"Eww, Harry... just eww!" Ron retorted with a grimace.

* * *

"That's just your accidental magic, Harry," Sirius teased again, then groaned when Harry drove his elbow in his ribs to shut him up.

* * *

"Hmm, that could be a latent Metamorphmagus ability," Tonks mused when she read the paragraph.

"What's a Metamorphmagus?" Harry asked curiously.

"A Metamorphmagus is a witch or a wizard that can change their appearance at will," Hermione explained.

"That's correct, Hermione," Tonks praised the girl. "I'm a Metamorphmagus myself."

She proved it by changing her bubble-gum pink hair to an exact replica of Harry's hairdo.

"Wicked!" was Ron's only comment as he watched her with an impressed expression.

"We'll talk about it later," Tonks promised when she caught the impatience on Moody's face.

* * *

"You apparated?" Lupin asked with wide eyes. Harry looked at his face then at the face of the others. Everyone was looking at him with wide eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, becoming worried.

"Nothing is wrong really," Sirius explained slowly. "It's just that you're more powerful than I thought."

"Even I couldn't apparate when I was your age," Dumbledore added quietly. "Even accidentally."

Everything grew quiet again, each trying to come to terms with how powerful of a wizard Harry really was.

"But then, why do you suck at magic so much," Ron asked the most pertinent question. Hermione couldn't agree more.

Harry remained quiet. He didn't want everyone to know...

"It's because of the expectations that everyone's putting on him, combined with how the Dursleys treated him," Snape said quietly, trying not to look like he swallowed an extremely sour lemon. It was another thing that he had to swallow – he thought that Harry was stupid. Another thing he was wrong about. The boy was probably more intelligent than anyone gave him credit for. If he was able to hold his power back so much to barely scrape by in his classes, then how powerful was he really?

That thought gave him a scare.

Sirius started to glare at him, but stopped when he realized that he was probably telling the truth. He turned, instead, to Harry and watched as he tried to grow as small as possible.

"Harry-" he tried to say, but Harry interrupted him. He knew that they would nag him until he caved, so he caved earlier.

"It's because everyone's expecting this Golden Boy that defeated Voldemort. The only thing he's good for is for defeating the Dark. They don't expect anything else from me. And if I try to be something else, they condemn me – like in second year when they thought I was the heir of Slytherin. Everyone turned on me like I was the next Dark Lord or something..." the words rushed out of Harry.

Everyone was quiet. Dumbledore looked a bit guilty – Snape thought that what Harry was feeling probably came to bite the Headmaster in the arse – for he was as much to blame for the boy feeling like that as everyone in this room.

"And if I did as well as I know I could, then Ron and Hermione would be angry with me," Harry kept going. It was all out of the bag now anyway.

"Why would you think that?" Hermione asked stupefied.

"Oh, come on!" Harry raised his voice. "You were put out by me outperforming you in the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam not two weeks ago. You don't expect me to believe that if I did better than you in other subjects that you wouldn't be even more put out!"

Hermione was quiet.

"And Ron would feel left out – why do you think I signed up for the same classes he did! I didn't want to create an even bigger rift between us than it already is! You know how put out he is by me having all this fame and money!" Harry continued to rant, not caring if he hurt his friends or not. He couldn't stop the words gushing out of his mouth any more.

"As if I need any of that! He's already struggling with seeing me as Harry and not as Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived! And no one else sees me as just Harry! They all expect me to be something – and I provide!"

"I don't see you as Harry Potter," said Neville quietly. It was the first time he said something and Harry realized that he forgot he was in the room. He immediately felt guilty about that. What kind of a friend was he?

"Neither do I," said Remus. Sirius just hugged the small boy to his side and whispered, "You're my godson, I don't care about anything else!"

Harry tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but to no avail. Instead he turned his head and hid his face in Sirius' chest as he did his best not to cry. Sirius gently patted his back and just held him closer.

Everyone was quiet, letting the boy calm down. Hermione and Ron had a sour pill to swallow themselves, because everything Harry said was true to an extent.

When Harry was calm, he turned around and quickly glanced at everyone in the room. Hermione was crying silently, Ron was watching her gloomily, Neville was watching him, Remus and Sirius were in a quiet conversation between themselves, Dumbledore had his head in his hands, while McGonagall was trying to comfort him; Moody was expressionless as always, but he did have a strange look in his eye as he gazed at the wall, while his other eye was firmly on his face; Snape was also looking at Harry with an indescribable expression.

Tonks cleared her throat and continued reading after making sure that Harry was okay. Harry knew that everyone would talk to him about it once the books were finished. He sighed, resigned.

* * *

"I guess he likes to complain about you a lot," Sirius tried to joke, but fell silent when everyone glared at him.

* * *

Sirius started to say something, but Remus shook his head – motioning for Sirius to take a look at Harry's face. Sirius did so and was shocked to see the miserable look on his godson's face. Instead of saying something, he hugged his godson to himself again, trying to comfort him.

* * *

"Wow, Harry," said Tonks smiling. "Another amazing feat of magic!"

Harry looked at her cautiously, trying to discern if she meant it, but could see no deceit.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

* * *

The only ones in the room that were surprised by the revelation that Harry was a parselmouth were Moody and Tonks – Remus and Sirius already knew (or at least they suspected from what Harry was yelling a few minutes ago). Sirius quickly kissed Harry on his forehead and grinned at him when Harry looked up at him in surprise.

"What? You expect me to be all shocked and angry and go saying 'Merlin, you're a parselmouth'? Well, if so – you're going to be disappointed. I think it's cool!" he said stubbornly. Harry just shook his head in disbelief. Looking around the room, he saw that no one looked like they were disgusted. Everyone looked at him with understanding on their faces. Well, not Snape. He only looked like he always did. But Harry somehow knew that he understood him too.

Suddenly he realized that Snape knew exactly how Harry felt. He was discriminated against as well and Harry was guilty of doing the same to him as he didn't want people doing to him. It was a hard pill to swallow, but Harry was nothing but good at swallowing hard pills.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he looked at Snape with an apologetic expression.

Snape did nothing but blink. In fact, behind the mask, Severus was nothing but shocked at the apology he received. He did not expect that. But then again, Harry did nothing but what was expected of him – and he was expected to hate him, not counting that Snape wanted Harry to hate him so that he could hate him too. That of course, fizzled out of his brain as soon as he thought it.

It shocked him.

He didn't hate Potter any more. He couldn't. Not after what he learned about him in the short span of time that they spent reading the books.

* * *

Everyone paled again. Harry could remember the night his parents were killed? Sirius swallowed and pulled Harry even closer.


	4. III - Letters From No One

**III – The Letters from No One**

There was silence in the room for a few minutes, which was broken by Ron's ever-empty stomach's rumbling. Harry and Hermione couldn't help but look at each other and snort loudly.

"I think it's time for breakfast," Harry said lightly, trying to diffuse the tension that was still lingering in the room. He was surprised when a huge coffee table appeared between the armchairs and sofas. It appeared that the room heard his need and gave him what was needed. There was a soft pop and plates upon plates of food appeared out of nowhere. There was a small note, resting upon Harry's empty plate, that was waiting to be filled with all the delicious food.

_Apparently, food is one of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration – according to Hermione anyway. And as such, food cannot be conjured. I felt the need to send a note to one of the Hogwarts house-elves (don't tell Hermione or she'll get her knickers in a twist!) to supply you with food. Don't worry about it from now on and enjoy your stay,_

_Harry_

He felt extremely weird wanting to thank himself, so he stopped thinking about it and dove into the food that had appeared on his plate while he was reading the note. He looked over to Sirius with suspicion and rolled his eyes when he saw Sirius staring at his plate with a pointed look. Harry snorted and continued eating.

After they were done – or at least, after everyone but Ron was done, Hermione took up the book and started reading the next chapter.

**Chapter Three – The Letters from No One**

"Doesn't that mean that you'll get the letter from Hogwarts?" Ron asked his mouth half full.

"You'll see," said Harry mysteriously, but ruined it by snorting to himself as he remembered his uncle's escapades.

* * *

Sirius was about to say something, but the look on his godson's face stopped him. He swore to himself that they would have a long talk as soon as they retired for the night. Then he thought that it might be too early for him to assert himself in that way and looked over to Remus who was watching his facial expressions. Shrugging, he turned his attention back on Hermione.

* * *

"No, Harry, you're going to Hogwarts," teased Ron. Harry rolled his eyes.

"I didn't know that at the time," he said.

* * *

"That, Mr Potter, was an answer worthy of a Slytherin," Snape suddenly said. Everyone looked at him in surprise. It was the first time that he commented on something that was being read from the book. Harry grew a bit tense at that as he was reminded that the Sorting Hat wanted to put him in Slytherin. He didn't know how everyone else would react to that.

"Thanks, I guess," he managed to get out. He was very uncomfortable as Snape stared at him. Was he expecting him to go into a rage and rant about Slytherin? If so, he would wait a long time. Ever since Harry had found out that Peter Pettigrew, the man who betrayed his parents to Voldemort, was a Gryffindor, it made him think about how everyone said that all the bad wizards came out of Slytherin. That made him realize just how prejudiced the Wizarding community was. He even snuck into the library one night and went to research Dark Wizards through the history – and while some of them were Slytherins, most of the others were either Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs of Gryffindors. It was true that victors wrote the history books, as Harry found out. Voldemort might be one bad Slytherin, but not everyone who was bad was a Slytherin. Being a Slytherin didn't automatically make you bad – that was the wisdom that Harry learnt that one night in the library. It made him open his eyes to what happened before he was sorted. Hagrid told him that all Slytherins were evil, as did Ron – and Malfoy didn't exactly endear himself to Harry either. But then again, he was only eleven and knew nothing of the Wizarding world. He wondered what would have happened if he kept quiet while he was sorted. Would the Sorting Hat still put him in Gryffindor or Slytherin, or would he have been put in another house? The Hat did say that he had the qualities of all four houses, after all. Hermione clearing her throat, made Harry wake from his musings and start paying attention to the reading.

* * *

"That was nice of her," Ron said sarcastically.

* * *

"Makes you thank whoever designed the Hogwarts uniform, doesn't it?" said Hermione with a grin. Everyone laughed at that and agreed. They wouldn't be caught dead wearing what Dudley had to wear for his school.

* * *

"Drama queen," muttered Harry. Snape couldn't agree more.

* * *

Silence. Then the room shook with laughter.

"Ickle Dudleykins?" guffawed Ron.

"Hark who's talking – didn't I hear your brothers call you Ickle Ronniekins on the platform?" shot Harry back through his own chuckles. Ron ignored him, but everyone could see his ears turn red from embarrassment.

* * *

"I think that sarcasm won't work on her either," Sirius mused as he tried to distract himself from going over to Privet Drive and committing the murders he was convicted of.

"You're telling me," Harry mumbled.

* * *

Everyone turned to glare at Dumbledore again. He received a glare every time Harry's abuse was mentioned. Harry wondered how long that would last. He hoped they wouldn't glare at the professor through all the books. Though, he did resent Dumbledore a bit for always sending him back to the hell-hole, he hoped that the man had a good reason to and hoped that one of those books would tell him. Trying to make Dumbledore tell you the truth about something was usually like pulling teeth.

* * *

"If the post is mentioned, then…" Hermione started to get excited and quickly continued to read. Harry kept quiet, not wanting to disappoint her by telling her that it didn't matter because he didn't read the first letter anyway.

* * *

"So, he does know your name," Ron said and was immediately whacked over the head by Hermione's hand.

"You're so tactless, Ron!" she grumbled as Ron wearily rubbed the spot on his head that was hurting.

"I just made an observation!" he argued, "How is that tactless?"

Hermione opened her mouth to tell him exactly how that observation was tactless, but Harry interrupted them before they started arguing again. The teachers in the room just rolled their eyes at the show the trio was putting on. They were already used to watch Hermione and Ron argue all the time, with Harry calming them down. To Remus, Sirius and even Snape, it reminded them of Lily and James, before they got together. It left a bitter-sweet taste in Remus' and Sirius' mouths, but a sour one in Snape's.

* * *

Sirius perked up at this and leaned forward. He had seen all of Harry's firsts when he was a baby. He could still remember how angry James was at him when Harry's first word was Da – and it was not James that was called that, but Sirius. His behind still ached in the memory of the Stinging Hex James used on him as he chased him around the house. Sirius was also present at Harry's first steps – he could still remember Lily and how she glowed with pride as she took pictures of baby Harry waddling around. He sighed at the memories sadly. He missed twelve years of his godson's life because he was chucked into Azkaban. How could he ever make it up to him?

* * *

"Albus, I think it's time we started supervising the Quill," said professor McGonagall with the most serious face Harry had ever seen. Dumbledore's eyes went dull as he nodded. He wondered how many children at Hogwarts had endured as much as Harry has if not more and they never found out. He felt a slight pang of guilt as he thought of his Potions Master – he was also an abused child.

* * *

"GRYFFINDOR!" yelled Sirius with a mischievous grin on his face.

* * *

There was a moment of silence, and then Moody grunted. They all took it as a confirmation to Moody being a Ravenclaw when he was at Hogwarts.

* * *

"HUFFLEPUFF!" Tonks added her two Knuts to the conversation.

* * *

Everyone turned to Snape who glared at them. Hermione quickly resumed reading.

* * *

This time, it was Remus, Sirius, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Tonks, Neville and even Dumbledore who let out a bellow, "HOGWARTS!"

They all looked at each other and started laughing. Harry couldn't believe how childish everyone behaved and started laughing even harder. Even Dumbledore was chuckling to himself as he watched his favourite group of people laugh. Snape's face was expressionless and Moody was becoming impatient.

* * *

"That was a joke?" Ron asked with disbelief in his voice.

* * *

"Harry," said Remus cautiously. "I don't think that was a good idea."

"Why not?" asked Ron, clueless as usual.

"Probably because you're right," said Harry miserably while wishing that he would have opened the letter when he found it. But then again, he would have missed Hagrid giving Dudley a pig's tail. That cheered him up.

* * *

"Hey, that's his letter!" shouted Tonks angrily. "It's illegal to take and read someone else's letters!"

* * *

"Uh-oh," snickered Ron. "I sense someone losing their temper soon!"

Hermione rolled her eyes and continued reading.

* * *

"Actually…" started Neville, getting a bit red in the face. "I wrote you a letter once when I was six."

Ron let out a snicker as he added his two Knuts, "So did Ginny!"

Harry just groaned in embarrassment and hid his face in his hands, trying to hide his blush. Everyone gave out a small chuckle.

* * *

"Nice description," mumbled Sirius as he tried to keep his own temper in check.

* * *

"If we did that to dad, mum would kill us," Ron whispered.

* * *

"Wait for it," Ron added to the sentence with a wicked glean in his eyes. Harry rolled his eyes and Sirius chuckled.

* * *

"Any second now," said Neville with a grin.

* * *

"And there it is! Harry's temper!" said Ron gleefully.

"Reminds me of Lily's," mused Remus as he remembered how often she lost her temper whenever James was trying to show off. Sirius chuckled and Snape's lips twitched a bit as he remembered how many times she lost her temper as well.

"What kind of a temper did my dad have?" asked Harry curiously. He wanted to know everything he could find out about his parents. Sirius and Remus looked at each other and grinned.

"He was a happy-go-lucky person, I guess," said Remus after a few moments. "He couldn't bother getting too angry about something, though when he did lose it, then you had to watch out."

Sirius slumped a bit as he remembered how James yelled at him after he almost got Snape killed by Remus. He could see how idiotic and childish that was now. Especially as it seemed that Snape brought the hatred he felt towards them onto Harry. Though, the further they got into the book the less he seemed to hate Harry, Sirius thought. He could remember how Snape looked on the first train ride – he wore clothes that were too big for him and that were threadbare. He could almost imagine Harry looking like that in his cousin's clothes. He felt his heart squeeze in pain as he realized just how many things Snape and his godson had in common.

* * *

The room suddenly started trembling as if an earthquake had hit it. Everyone looked around themselves, not understanding what was happening... until they lay their eyes on the Headmaster who was clutching a hand to his chest and trying to calm himself down. Everyone's mouth dropped open as they stared. Never, in all their lives, had they seen the Headmaster lose control of his magic before and it was a bit scary as power poured out of him.

It took a few minutes, but the Headmaster calmed himself down eventually.

"I apologize," he said wearily as he took quick breaths. Snape, Moody and McGonagall all looked worried about their friend and the others merely looked dumbstruck. After a few more seconds of silence, Hermione shakily started to read again.

* * *

"Yes," said Snape sarcastically, "by mistake his exact address was written on the envelope."

* * *

"Second bedroom?" barked Sirius angrily. "Just how many rooms are there in the house?"

Harry kept quiet.

* * *

Sirius growled lowly at that and promised himself that after they were done reading for today he would sit Harry down and have a long talk with him, ignoring his previous insecurities about asserting himself too quickly. Someone had to talk to the boy and that someone would be Sirius. Looking at Remus, he saw his friend looking at him proudly. Guess Remus knew what he was thinking about. As usual. Taking a deep breath, Sirius calmed himself down and listened as Hermione read further.

* * *

"I read them when I was locked in the room," Harry admitted blushingly. He thought back to the summer between his first and second year and when his uncle had locked him in the room. He had nothing to do but read. Hermione looked at him proudly while Ron had a look of disbelief on his face.

* * *

"Spoiled brat," murmured Tonks.

* * *

"If he wanted to read the letter yesterday, why didn't he just read it and not shout it out for everyone to hear?" asked Ron.

"I did mention he was stupid, didn't I?" said Harry lightly. Tonks snorted at that.

* * *

"So, you were already practising the choke for the troll," observed Ron with a laugh.

"Troll?" asked Sirius and Remus sharply. They didn't know anything about a troll.

"I'm sure we'll read about it once I get to Hogwarts," Harry tried to calm them down.

"I'm curious about it too," admitted Neville softly. "I always wanted to know how you and Ron became friends with Hermione."

"You weren't friends off the bat?" asked Sirius curiously.

"No," answered Ron guiltily. He still felt guilty about being the one to make Hermione cry.

* * *

"Uh-oh," Ron, Hermione and even Neville said simultaneously. Harry just rolled his eyes.

"What's with the uh-oh?" asked Remus while sending a curious glance towards Harry.

"Harry had a plan," explained Ron while chuckling. "Because no matter how good of a plan he makes is, there's always bound to go something wrong."

"Now, when he's thinking on his feet, he's brilliant," continued Hermione. "But when he makes a plan, then it goes awry. And he usually jinxes himself as well."

Harry crossed his arms.

"Like when he went to the Zoo, remember him thinking that nothing could go wrong? That was when he jinxed himself." added Neville. Hermione let out a giggle, while everyone laughed at the poor, blushing Harry.

"Don't worry," said Sirius. "Your dad sucked at making plans too. Usually, his plans were the ones that got us caught and issued with detentions. It was Remus here that made the best plans."

Remus shot him an irritated look, while McGonagall looked like someone betrayed her.

* * *

"How did you repair it? I don't think the Dursleys would have lent you any tools..." Hermione observed. Harry scratched his head and thought back.

"I think it might have been a bit of accidental magic," he admitted. "I remember getting frustrated and banging the clock at the wall and then it suddenly started working again."

Dumbledore thought it wouldn't be prudent of him to mention that it wasn't accidental magic, but most probably wandless magic that Harry did.

* * *

"Don't tell me," smirked Tonks.

* * *

"Oh Merlin, this is just too funny," Ron laughed and Harry couldn't help but join in. Now that he looked at it, it really was funny.

* * *

"That won't help," said McGonagall smugly.

"Just how many letters did you get?" asked Neville in awe.

"Hundreds," said Harry shortly. Then grinned as he remembered how he met Hagrid for the first time.

* * *

"Yes, _our_ minds work in strange ways," sneered Snape sarcastically. Harry snorted. He had no idea that Snape could be so funny.

* * *

"He's getting paranoid," said Moody.

"Hark who's talking," teased Tonks, ignoring the glare that Moody sent her.

* * *

"Everyone in the Wizarding world," Ron teased. Harry shot him a glare and humphed.

* * *

"You're forgetting that the Wizarding world operates on a different scale than yours," smirked Tonks.

* * *

"Why didn't you just pick one from the floor?" asked Hermione surprised.

"Seeker training," retorted Harry. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You didn't even know what Quidditch was," she said with a smirk.

"So? I didn't even know that I would be choking a Troll when I choked my uncle," Harry said grinning wickedly. Hermione didn't have anything else to add to that.

* * *

Everyone glared at the book at that.

* * *

"Welcome to Harry's life," snapped Hermione angrily.

* * *

"And he just now noticed?" asked Ron. Harry shook his head, but didn't deign to answer.

* * *

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" yelled Ron, Hermione, Neville, Sirius, Remus, Tonks and Dumbledore. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling with amusement, but when Hermione read further, they dimmed again.

* * *

"You were actually thinking an optimistic thought?" observed Ron shocked. Harry rolled his eyes.

"I can be optimistic sometimes," he replied.

* * *

Sirius and surprisingly Remus growled, while Snape scowled at the book.

* * *

Everyone jumped, because Hermione yelled the word out. Ron was looking at her admiringly, while McGonagall was clutching her chest from shock.

* * *

"Who is it?" asked Sirius worriedly.

"That's the end of the chapter," said Hermione with a mischievous grin. She already knew, of course, so could afford to tease him a bit.

"Then give me the book so that I can read," Sirius grumbled and took the offered book.


End file.
